Tickets Com

Tickets.com Inc., an online event ticketing company based in Costa Mesa, said Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to be the exclusive live event ticket provider for VirginConnect's Web player. Financial details were not disclosed. VirginConnect is a joint venture between Internet Appliance Network and Virgin Entertainment Group.

Tickets.com Inc. bombed on Wall Street on Wednesday, a day after the online e-commerce company announced a tentative agreement to acquire the United Kingdom's second-largest ticketing company. The Costa Mesa company's shares slumped $2.75, or 20%, to $10.88. Earlier in the session, the shares hit $9.75, the lowest price since Tickets.com went public in November. The company, which sells tickets to concerts and other events through the Internet, agreed to buy First Call International Ltd.

Marina del Rey-based Tickets.com and Advantix of Newport Beach said they will merge to form an online company for selling entertainment, sports and travel tickets. The two privately held companies did not disclose the value of their all-stock deal. The new company, to be called Tickets.com, will compete with industry leader Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, which is based in Pasadena. Analysts estimate that online ticket sales could total $10 billion by 2001.

Costa Mesa-based Tickets.com Inc. on Wednesday significantly raised the price range for its initial public offering amid growing optimism about the online ticket seller's stock market debut. Tickets.com (ticker symbol: TIXX), which provides tickets online for sports and entertainment events, increased the range for its offering of 6.7 million shares from $7 to $9 a share to $10 to $12 per share in hopes of raising as much as $80.4 million.

Tickets.com said Monday that it will cut its work force by 220 positions over the next 15 months, a reduction of 35%, as part of a corporate reorganization by the growing Costa Mesa online ticketing concern. Tickets.com, which is engaged in a struggle with Ticketmaster Corp. in Pasadena, is trying to digest 11 companies it purchased over the last few years. The first 30 job eliminations were announced last week. Tickets.

Timothy E. Kelly is leaving as president of Costa Mesa online ticketing company Tickets.com Inc. to rejoin Sprint Corp., the nation's third largest long-distance telephone company. Kelly, 42, who left Sprint in 1999 to join Tickets.com, has been named president of consumer services at Sprint. Tickets.com's co-chairman and chief executive, W. Thomas Gimple, will reassume direct responsibility for the company's operations. Kelly will not be replaced, the company said. Instead, Tickets.

Tickets.com Inc. narrowed its losses in the fourth quarter as revenue increased. The Costa Mesa online ticket service said it lost $13.8 million, or 23 cents a share, for the three months, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $28.4 million, or 71 cents a share. Revenue rose 20% to $15.3 million. For the year, the company lost $105.7 million, or $1.80 a share, compared with a net loss of $66.6 million, or $3.55 a share, for 1999. Revenue was up 28% to $58.7 million. Tickets.

Online ticketing agency Tickets.com Inc. said Wednesday that it has received notice from Nasdaq that the company's stock listing may be removed from Nasdaq's national market system because the stock has traded below $1 a share since early November. The Costa Mesa company said in a press release that its request for a hearing has been granted by Nasdaq's listing qualifications panel. The hearing is set for May 10. Until then, the stock will continue to trade on the national market system.

Tickets.com Inc., which sells tickets to events over the Internet, said Thursday its shares will remain listed on the Nasdaq National Market. The stock was in danger of being delisted for failing to meet the market's minimum price requirement of $1 per share. But the Costa Mesa company completed a 1-for-8 reverse stock split and received $17 million in additional equity financing. The stock on Thursday edged up 12 cents to $3.03.

Tickets.com Inc., a provider of entertainment, sports and travel tickets, said Monday it received an extension from a Nasdaq panel to comply with the minimum stock price requirement of $1 a share for continued listing. The Costa Mesa company is asking shareholders to approve a 1-for-8 reverse stock split and an arrangement for additional financing at its annual meeting July 11. The stock, which has been trading below $1 this year, on Monday edged up 2 cents to 40 cents a share.